May 4 1978
From The Space Library
NASA reported that 8mo after launch and 8mo before beginning close Jupiter observations, Voyager 1 had traveled nearly 555 million km (348 million miles) from earth and was then at a distance from the sun of about 3.1AU. Its velocity relative to the sun was about 19.9km (12.4mi) per sec.; time needed for one-way communications was 30min 45sec. On May 3, the Voyager had performed a midcourse correction of its Jupiter- bound trajectory, as part of a set of commands relayed to the craft Apr., 26.
NASA had constructed a model to investigate the sticking of Voyager 1's scan platform. One possible explanation for the sticking was that a small piece of plastic from the scan-actuator locking mechanism might have lodged in the actuator's gear. Before moving the scan-platform on the Voyager into the position where it had previously stuck, NASA would try to reproduce the failure in laboratory tests and determine its effects. (NASA Mission Status Bulletin, May 4/78)
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